You thought you knew everything about the Edie Beales, mother and daughter—from the Maysles' documentary, the off Broadway and Broadway musicals starring Christine Ebersole, Walter Newkirk's book Memorabealia, and the news that an HBO feature starring Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore is in the works. Now the dynamic mother/daughter occupants of the historic East Hampton beach manse will star again in a coffee table book.
As fans know, Grey Gardens housed the famously down on their wealth women, as well as cats and debris, but
what debris! At last night's annual "Art for Animals" benefit, Eva Marie Beale told me about the new book she assembled using younger Edie's poetry, photos, drawings, and letters, with an introduction by Peter Beard: Edith Bouvier Beale of Grey Gardens: A Life in Pictures (Verlhac Editions). Pointing out a handsome tome on Edie's kin, Jacqueline Kennedy, in the same series, Beale said that Frances Hayward, resident of Grey Gardens and the evening's host was inspiration, setting Eva on this course. As she went through the vast amount of material left behind for her husband Bouvier Beale Jr., Edie's nephew, she knew she wanted to ensure Edie's legacy as a beautiful, gifted woman who, with her mother, became a shut-in. Beth Ostrosky was among those braving the monsoon rains in support of the Humane Society. Off to the city for work, fiancé Howard Stern had left the honey-toned blond home alone, with security of course. The couple is now weighing the options offered by the glossies, OK!, People among them, for the rights to cover the much anticipated wedding this October—and they do not want mentioned which tabloid is bidding embarrassingly low. Meantime, there were worse problems at hand. Russell Simmons and Wayne Pacelle, president of HSUS, spoke about cruelty to animals, their tight caged existence as they are bred to feed us. "We can do better," they concluded after recounting blood chilling stories. Tony Ingrao joined other guests supping on delicious—really!—appropriately vegan fare: lentils with cauliflower, grilled vegetables, heirloom tomatoes, and foccaccia with olive tapenade.
Fueled by the sugar rush of pink glazed cupcakes, pink cocktails, and pink twizzlers from an earlier celebration of Betsey Johnson's new eyeglass line at Grueneyes in East Hampton, I did not miss the meat
While Johnson vamped with well wishers, John Gruen told me he invented a silicone washer to hinge his signature frames. Whatever the patent he gets, he said ruefully, the Chinese are sure to copy.